


Paper Sun

by to_the_wick (Jei_Stark)



Series: Pressure Suit [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Afghanistan, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-11 15:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jei_Stark/pseuds/to_the_wick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His nose is peeling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Pressure Suit fanmix covering the entirety of the first Iron Man movie, this fic was written to the song "Paper Sun" by Def Leppard.

_Does it hurt to remember  
Does it help to forget  
Do you know what you started  
When you lit the fuse of regret  
There's not a reason why -- you've come undone  
There's nothing left to justify -- this can't go on  
There's nothing left inside -- as I walk this broken land_  
  
Later, the desert and everything contained within would follow him home regardless of how long he'd been there, as if he'd simply had a long day at the beach. He'd have a love-hate relationship with his shower, with water cupped in his hand, and with any coffee that wasn't strong as fuck and sugared to hell and back. Everything his skin touched would feel like sand for weeks afterward, and on some days he'd even sleep on the floor of the workshop just to revel in the feel of metal and concrete. Not that he'd sleep much. Too much work to do, too many nightmares waiting in the shadows.  
  
Now, though, he was annoyed because his skin was peeling, right on the bridge of his nose, the hard part. And it _hurt,_ dammit. It was even more annoying than his probably broken arm because at least his arm was growing numb. Screw a splint, his kingdom for _aloe lotion._ But he had a kingdom of sand now, and it stretched for god knows how long, and he was going to die out here and no one would know if his nose just peeled right off and _holy shit is that a helicopter--_  
  
Somewhere in between falling on his knees in the sand and getting off the plane, he figured he apologized to Rhodey about two dozen times, most of them silent. He did, however, very audibly bitch about how sand had gotten into crevices he didn't know he _had._ (Rhodey had smirked at that, and Tony silently checked that off his internal list of Things To Do. Making Pepper Smile was next.)


End file.
